How to Go Viral With Brendan Kane
- Elevate Hub
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 10
Want to understand how content truly goes viral, moving beyond fleeting trends to create lasting impact? You're in the right place. This article delves into the expertise of Brendan Kane, a 20-year veteran who's worked with giants like Taylor Swift, MTV, and IKEA. Drawing from his wealth of experience and books like "1 Million Followers" and "The Guide to Going Viral", we'll explore his actionable strategies – a recipe, if you will – to help you create content that resonates and spreads.
Brendan's approach, highlighted in a deep dive video from the TechNova YouTube channel, isn't about luck; it's about a systematic understanding of how to create content that works. It starts with a fundamental shift in perspective: moving from being a passive consumer of social media to an active, analytical creator.
Here’s how to bridge that gap and unlock your viral potential, according to Brendan Kane's Hookpoint viral content model:
1. From Consumer to Creator: The Power of Analysis
Instead of simply scrolling through your feed, Brendan urges you to become a content detective. Just as a chef breaks down a dish to understand its ingredients and techniques, creators need to analyse successful online content. Ask yourself:
What makes this video work beyond just being funny or entertaining?
What is the underlying structure driving its success?
What are the patterns in the pacing, editing, and storytelling?
This analytical mindset is the first crucial step in understanding the mechanics of viral content.
2. Select and Analyse Your Format Meticulously
Brendan emphasises the importance of identifying and understanding repeatable formats – sustainable structures with a proven track record, rather than one-off viral moments. Think of them as templates for success into which you can plug your own message or brand.
Don't chase one-hit wonders: Look for creators who consistently get results using the same structure across multiple videos.
Formats over trends: While trends can offer a temporary boost, they fade. Formats provide a lasting foundation.
Pay attention to context and delivery: Even if competitors use similar content, their execution might be flawed.
To help identify these formats, Brendan's company, Hookpoint, developed the Hookpoint Format Finder.
Crucially, Brendan argues that formats don't limit creativity; they unlock it. Just like filmmakers adhere to basic storytelling structures while producing diverse movies, mastering a format provides a framework within which your unique context and voice can shine.
To choose the right format, consider:
Your resources: Be realistic about your time, equipment (even an iPhone can suffice), and team.
Your passions: Enthusiasm is contagious and fuels consistency.
Hookpoint's research has uncovered over 300 different storytelling formats. Examples include:
Man on the street: Engaging random people in public, like Alex Dlosski's spontaneous interactions or School of Hard Knocks' entrepreneur interviews.
Two characters, one light bulb: One person playing multiple characters to explore a topic from different angles, as seen with Mark Tilbury's buyer/seller negotiations or Erica Cobberg's legal jargon demystification.
Walking listicles: Sharing a list of items while walking and talking, exemplified by Robert Croak's tips for becoming a millionaire.
However, 99% of people fail at using these formats because they don't analyse them deeply enough. This is where the Gold, Silver, Bronze process comes in. Examine 5-10 top-performing (gold), average (silver), and low-performing (bronze) videos within your chosen format to identify the performance drivers. Analyse the pacing, tone, camera angles, captions, and editing – all the subtle nuances that contribute to success. Hookpoint has analysed over a thousand of these performance drivers.
Brendan illustrates this with the visual metaphor format used by Dr. Julie Smith. By comparing a high-performing video (overflowing waste paper basket for bad memories) with a lower-performing one (traffic as thoughts), he highlights key performance drivers:
Active metaphor: Actively interacting with props creates a more engaging visual story.
Tension: Visually creating a sense of urgency or intrigue draws viewers in.
Potential energy: Setting up an expectation of interaction or action from the start.
Cleverness: Using everyday objects in unexpected and insightful ways to represent abstract concepts.
3. Ideation Within That Format: Your Creative Blueprint
Instead of starting with a random idea, use your chosen and analysed format as a framework for generating ideas. The format becomes your blueprint, focusing your creative energy.
Tanner Leatherstein of Pugy exemplifies this. After struggling with typical social media strategies, he developed the "Is It Worth It" format, deconstructing luxury leather goods and offering his expert opinion. This repeatable format, fuelled by his passion, led to phenomenal growth.
Key takeaway: Find a format that works and let it guide your content creation.
4. One Video at a Time: Quality Over Quantity
In a world of batch production, Brendan advocates for a more iterative approach: create one video, analyse its performance, adjust your strategy, and then create the next. Think of a chef perfecting a sauce – small adjustments based on taste lead to the best results. Avoid wasting time by producing a large batch of content before understanding what resonates.
5. Analyse and Improve: Refine, Repeat, Succeed
After sharing your video, dig into the data using the Gold, Silver, Bronze process. If a video underperforms, revisit your research – did you miss a key performance driver? Use the Hookpoint mirror test to compare your video side-by-side with high-performing ones in the same format to identify subtle differences in execution.
Brendan’s work with Aaron Gory, who experienced massive growth after analysing her videos, highlights the power of this step. Comparing a 15,000-view video with a 59 million-view video revealed key performance drivers like big reactions, clear conflict, and the strategic use (or absence) of captions.
By being brutally honest with yourself and analysing the data, you can turn failures into valuable learning experiences. Refine your approach, repeat what works, and test and iterate based on data, not guesswork.
How to Go Viral
Going viral isn't a matter of chance; it's a process rooted in understanding and applying proven strategies. Brendan Kane's five-step Hookpoint viral content model – go from consumer to creator, select and analyse your format, ideate within that format, focus on one video at a time, and analyse and improve – provides a powerful framework for creating content with intention and achieving consistent results. With billions of views and millions of followers generated by those using this model, the question now is: how will you use these insights to achieve your own content goals? It's time to take action and start creating strategically.
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